A foreign-owned car drove into  dining tables in Merchants Street, Valletta, hit and injured a woman, collided with another car in Marsa and then crashed down a reservoir near the Addolorata Cemetery late this afternoon.

The incidents happened between between 6  and 6.30 p.m.

Informed sources said the car first hit and damaged street furniture as it was being driven down Merchants' Street in Valletta. In what was described as a scene of 'mayhem' the car also hit a woman near Evans Laboratories. The woman, who is from Mosta, was hospitalised with serious injuries.

The car was driven at speed towards Marsa, where it collided with another car near the former shipbuilding yard. The driver - a 45-year-old Swede - momentarily stopped, but then drove off towards the Addolorata where the car flew off the road, hit a billboard, went through a wire-mesh fence and down the reservoir, which was nearly empty.

People rushed to the scene to pull out the driver as the vehicle caught fire.

The flames were put out by a fire engine while the driver was taken to hospital in an ambulance.

mynews@timesofmalta.com